


Kook Life

by wandering_gypsy_feet



Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:09:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26527255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wandering_gypsy_feet/pseuds/wandering_gypsy_feet
Summary: When Sarah invites them out on the boat for an afternoon of the kook life, JJ realizes girls notice things that guys don't.Specifically, Sarah notices the way he looks at Kiara.
Relationships: JJ/Kiara (Outer Banks), Sarah Cameron/John B. Routledge
Comments: 24
Kudos: 105





	Kook Life

**Author's Note:**

> This fic assumes 2 things - 
> 
> 1\. that Sarah also has a wakesetter, because why wouldn't she?  
> 2\. that the pogues get one afternoon between becoming friends with Sarah and shit hitting the fan. 
> 
> they deserve it. dedicated to all the hours i've spent wakesurfing and trying not to eat shit.

“Is this what being a kook is like?” JJ asked, closing his eyes and tilting his face towards the sun. “I could really, really get used to this.” 

“How is this any different than what you guys do?” Sarah replied, amusement evident in her tone even though he couldn’t see her. 

“Usually it smells a lot more like fish,” Pope commented. 

“And it’s not nearly this comfy.” John B kissed Sarah’s cheek, handing her a drink before putting a cool beer against JJ’s neck. “And there’s not a built in cooler.” 

“One thing is the same though.” Kiara got up, already humming. “I got aux.” 

“Yeah, here.” Sarah tossed her the long cord and Kiara caught it, plugging in her phone. 

“Let’s see what we got boys, maybe a little….” 

“Marley,” Pope, JJ, and John B all answered in unison. 

“Nothing if not predictable,” Sarah teased, grinning and turning them out of the marsh. A second later, music was playing over the speakers. 

JJ knew that this boat cost more than he’d ever make in his lifetime. Fuck, it probably cost more than his ancestors going back centuries had made in their combined lifetimes. And here was Sarah, at sixteen, sitting at the helm of a brand new Malibu, with all the bells and whistles. She was filling the fat sacks while Kiara sat in the bow, her legs carelessly tangled with his.

Pope was at the stern, watching as they sank lower and lower into the water and John B stood behind Sarah, a stupid little smile on his face. JJ had never seen his best friend in love. It was honest to god nauseating, but a little nice. He hadn’t seen him smile like this since he’d lost his dad. And Sarah was hot as fuck, so good for him. 

“How much longer?” Pope asked and Sarah checked a gauge on the massively complicated dash. 

“Little bit. Any of you ever surfed before?” Sarah asked and JJ looked at her incredulously. She responded with a deadpan look of her own. “I meant wake surf. I know you can fucking surf, dipshit.” 

“Sarah, the last time I was on a boat like this, I was delivering shit and they told me to get the champagne glasses out of it,” Pope told her. 

“I’ve never even been allowed to go near one of these,” JJ muttered. 

“With good reason. Your track record, you’d steal it.” Kiara nudged him with her toe. 

“Now what’d I do with a boat like this?”

“You surf.” Sarah put the boat into idle, standing and reaching up to pull the racks in. On it was a small, lime green surfboard, about half the size of what JJ was used to. “Who’s up first?” 

“I am busy.” Kiara had a joint and stretched her fingers out towards JJ. Unspoken, he handed her his lighter. 

“I’ll go.” JJ had always wanted to try this, whenever he saw the kooks out there on boats like this. This seemed like the perfect time, since Kiara was smoking, Sarah and John B were looking at each other like they could undress each other with their eyes, and Pope had never done anything first in his life. 

“Rope.” Sarah directed John B to where it was and he hung it from the tower while JJ pulled down the board. “Do you want some pointers then, if you’ve never done this before?” 

“Sarah.” JJ was already putting the rack back in place, the board leaning against his hip. “I’ve been surfing since before I could walk. I think I’ve got this.” 

“Alright.” eyebrows raised, Sarah handed him the rope handle. He held it as he jumped in, a bit alarmed at how close it held him to the boat. He knew, logically, that these boats didn’t have an exposed prop. He wouldn’t be maimed. But old habits die hard and he eyed it with trepidation. 

He realized his problem right off the bat; he had no idea what to do. Lay down on the board? Sit on it? And how did he hold the rope? He never used his hands when he surfed, he never held onto anything. He pretended to be getting the saltwater out of his eyes, trying to cover for the fact that he was utterly clueless. The ruse only lasted for a few moments and he sighed. 

“Uhh….”

“I’ve been surfing since before I could walk,” Sarah mocked him and John B snorted. 

“I’m not a fucking kook,” he yelled back and Sarah laughed. 

“Yeah, we know JJ.” she came to sit on the back of the boat so that she could demonstrate. “Get the boat under your feet, like this. Like you’re sitting in a chair. Yeah. Yeah. Now rope in both hands, and I’ll take off. Wave’s going to be pretty big, try to cut hard before it crests. Lean forward, go forward. Lean back, go back. Got it?” 

“Yeah.” the board was hard to wrangle while also holding the rope. JJ felt like a gangly ten year old again. 

“Okay, I’m going to put it in gear then and drag you until you’re ready,” Sarah told him, going back to the controls. “And JJ?” 

“Yeah?” he was struggling not to pop the board out of the water. 

“Do not hit my fucking boat.” 

“Put it in gear,” he bellowed and Sarah did. He let her drag him for a second, panicked slightly, but it was actually easier. The momentum pushed the board into his feet and the second he had both feet on he yelled, “hit it!” 

The boat roared into full gear, the swell of water coming up almost instantly. The board lifted him out of the water and JJ instantly went to tip forward, but the board was too small. All his weight shifted and he had only a second to try and twist before he smacked the water, face first. 

“Oh, that looked like it hurt,” Kiara remarked when the boat circled back around. He was sitting on the board, nursing a smarting cheek. Pope tossed him the rope and he caught it, also catching the smirk on Sarah’s face. 

“Not a fucking word,” he warned her and Sarah waved a hand, straightening the boat out. 

This time he was prepared for what would happen. That made it all the easier to be pulled up; this time he didn’t try to actually surf, but pulled himself in on the rope. One second he was on top of the wave, the next he was going down it at a speed he couldn’t quite control, careening towards the boat. His mouth formed the words ‘oh shit’ and then he bailed, thinking that if he damaged Sarah’s boat, it was more than his life. 

“Dude!” Sarah pulled around again. “I fucking told you. Lean back, go back!” 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” he got the rope again. “Hit it, kook princess.” 

Third time was the charm. He knew how to get up, and he knew how large the wave would be. This time, he remembered to lean back, and then he was in the wave and not getting too close to the boat, and this. This was what it was like to surf, except the wave didn’t end. He could just keep going. He looked up, adrenaline pumping through him, and saw that everyone in the boat was yelling at him. 

“Throw it!” Sarah yelled, glancing back. “Throw it!” 

“Throw what?” he demanded and then realized he was still holding the slack rope in his hand. Realizing what she meant, he tossed it back into the boat. Pope caught it, grinning at him. John B even looked suitably impressed and Kiara was applauding him, a glint in her eyes. 

It took him two more tries before he actually felt comfortable in the wave, but then all bets were off. Blood rushing, adrenaline pumping, he carved the wave. It was incredible, the way the wave continued. No paddling. No waiting for the next swell. He caught the beer that John B tossed him, laughing and cracking it open so that it splattered everywhere, the way he’d seen kook kids do on instagram. 

“Alright, I’ll give it to you,” Sarah admitted, when he was finally back onboard and John B was getting ready to take a run at it. “You’re a pretty fucking good surfer.” 

“Don’t tell him that,” Kiara complained. “He’ll get a big ego. Or a bigger ego.” 

“Pretty nice, huh?” Sarah was grinning at him. “Wanna try it?”

“Try….” he looked at her, then the controls. “Try….” 

“I’ll teach ya.” she stood and patted the seat. “C’mon. It’ll be fun.” 

He knew, realistically, that the only reason that Sarah Cameron was letting him drive her boat that was more expensive than he could sell all of his organs for on the black market was because she wanted him to like her. She was dating John B, she was trying to make nice with his pogue friends. And she also wanted to sit next to John B and kiss him, and that meant JJ had to drive. 

He didn’t fucking care. He pulled Pope surfing, then Kiara. Sarah went, surprising them all with how good she was. Laughing, she told them that this was her dad’s favorite thing to do with them. JJ wondered what it would be like to have a dad who actually wanted to do shit with him, instead of drink or get high and then beat the shit out of him. He thought it’d probably be nice.

“No, I’m being for reals,” he said loudly, as Sarah handed him another beer and sat down in John B’s lap. They were anchored, resting and sharing some beers after surfing. “Is this kook life?” 

“No, kook life is being brought caviar on the yacht while perfecting the champagne tower,” Sarah told him, laughing. 

“On the backs of your pogue indentured servants,” Pope added, grinning. 

“It’s not kook life if you’re not exploiting someone,” Kiara remarked, untangling string for what would likely be another bracelet. 

“I don’t give a shit who I exploit, as long as it’s in this boat.” he shut his eyes. 

They spent the afternoon surfing and swimming and giving each other shit, until the sun was going down and JJ found himself sitting next to Sarah, watching as John B, Pope, and Kie fought over which was easier to master, surfing or longboarding. JJ was smoking and when Sarah reached over for the joint, he looked at her in surprise. 

"I didn't know you smoked." it shocked him that Sarah Cameron, apple of the island's eye, would do such a thing. She laughed and took it from him. 

"Bet you'd believe me if I said I didn't until this summer?" she coughed a bit on the smoke, giving him a grin. 

"Yeah, I bet." he watched the way her eyes flickered to John B. He saw how they looked at each other. He'd never be jealous of that. Nah. Why did he need to get jealous over John B getting a girl? Even one like Sarah Cameron. A kook girl. He didn't go for kooks. He knew better. 

"Thanks for this." 

"The weed?" he glanced at her in surprise. "You're welcome." 

"Well, that," she laughed, "but also the day. This was really fun.” 

“Sarah.” he stared at her in disbelief. “You know this is like, your boat, right? Like, you’re the one who owns this shit?” 

“It’s Ward’s boat,” she said instantly and he rolled his eyes. 

“That’s what rich fucking kids say.” 

“Yeah, well, rich fucking kids aren’t that great.” Sarah tossed her hair over her shoulder and took the joint back from him. “Whenever they come on this boat it’s like…. The girls won’t get in the water because it’ll ruin their hair or their makeup or whatever. And the guys don’t think that I can drive this shit or that I can’t surf or whatever. You guys…. Don’t give a fuck. You’re just happy to be here. And thank you for that.” 

“You know, you’re not who I expected you were.” he observed her thoughtfully. 

"Why does everyone keep telling me that?" Sarah folded her arms like she was going to pout. "What sort of reputation do I have over on the cut?" 

"Uh," he hesitated, "that you're a narcissistic, rich, white girl who thinks that she's entitled to everything and that pogues are only good for fetching her caviar and champagne?" 

"Wow." her eyes were wide. "I almost wish you didn't tell me." 

"In your defense, now I know you're a rich, white girl who is actually pretty chill and doesn't think that all pogues exist for her to boss around," he offered and she shook her head. 

"No, I know how I'm perceived. I probably cultivated that image. I thought it was what was expected of me, you know?" she mused. "I just sort let it happen.... But then John B came and I just couldn't keep faking it, not once I knew that it was all so.... Fake." 

"Hence your recent conversion to pogue life," he remarked. 

"Or my attempt to draw you into kook life," she corrected jokingly. 

"Nah, once a pogue, always a pogue," he muttered and saw the corner of her mouth tug upwards. 

"Yeah, so I've been told. So pogues will never be kooks, but can kooks become pogues?" she glanced at the back of the boat, where Kiara was making a three point argument for the way surfing trumped longboarding. 

"To be determined.” he didn’t like the way Sarah was looking at him. Like she knew too much. This was why girls were so dangerous; they were too observant. Guys didn’t see shit like this. They didn’t notice and if they did, they didn’t care. But girls always wanted to talk about feelings and stuff. It set him on edge. 

“Thanks for that too, actually,” Sarah said softly, also looking at Kiara. 

“It was Pope’s idea to leave you on a boat together,” he told her and she grinned. 

“No, this time I really am thanking you for the weed. It’s probably the only thing that got Kie to let her guard down and actually talk to me.” 

“Well, in that case, you’re welcome.” 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sarah asked him carefully and he couldn’t stop his little smirk. 

“We’re not friends like that Sarah,” he warned her and she shrugged, unbothered. 

“Maybe that’s for the best. That way I’m not, you know, biased.” she had a look on her face, one that JJ didn’t like. Girls were so…. Sneaky. 

“Nothing to talk about." the downside to being on the water was that there was nowhere to escape to. 

"Alright, alright, fine." Sarah put her hands up, to show that she was surrendering. "It's all good JJ. We don't have to talk about it. Especially not what Kie said to me on the boat." 

JJ stared at her, realizing that girls were really the worst. She was sneaky and she knew it, biting her lower lip like that was going to hide her smirk. He narrowed his eyes at her, then glanced back at his friends, making sure that they were all distracted and not listening. Once he was satisfied with that, he turned back to her. 

"Fine. Tell me what she said." 

"Do you like her?" Sarah's eyes were lit up with mischief in a way that reminded him of John B. No wonder they liked each other. 

"Of course I like her," he said impatiently. "Everyone likes Kie." 

"No. Like, like _like_ her," Sarah implored and he huffed. Fucking girls. 

"No. She's hot, okay? That's all. That's it. It's no big deal. It's -- It's nothing. Because she doesn't feel the same way about me." 

"I wouldn't say that," Sarah mused and he wished she was a boy so he could threaten to punch her if she didn't hurry up and say it. 

"Sarah," he urged, "just fucking tell me." 

"Oh fine." she clearly took pity on him. "I asked her about you and Pope, like if you guys were chill or whatever. And then I asked if she liked any of you. And she said that there's no--" 

"No pogue on pogue macking," JJ finished for her in frustration. "Yeah, we know." 

"But I'm not you, moron." Sarah gave him a smack to the shoulder. "I'm a girl. We see shit. And I think that she likes you. And she like _likes_ you." 

"Why?" JJ stared at her in amazement. Did all girls have superpowers? 

"The way she talks about you." Sarah shrugged. "The little smile on her face. It's the same one that John B gets when he thinks I'm not looking." 

"Well...." JJ felt like he'd taken a surfboard to the head. Or maybe it was the weed. "But she's never going to act on it." 

"Girls usually don't." Sarah shrugged and stood. "Sometimes we're waiting for the boy to make the first move. Then, we can retaliate." grinning, she went to the back and climbed into John B's lap, effectively ending the conversation. Groaning and complaining, Pope and Kiara came to join JJ. 

He watched, still a bit dazed, as Kiara plucked the joint from his hand and took a hit, then sat down and threw her feet thoughtlessly into his lap, already back to explaining how underwater engine noise was so damaging to aquatic life. Halfway through, she glanced at him and smiled, and JJ took a deep breath to steady his racing heart. 

Fucking girls. 

**Author's Note:**

> reviews are life, reviews are love!


End file.
